Birthday, or the Lack of a Title
by Romula
Summary: Sirius/Remus fluff. WIP
1. A Superfluous Argument

Birthday, or the Lack of a Title  
  
Chapter One: A Superfluous Argument  
  
By Romula  
  
Rating: G  
  
Warning: Slash. Remus/Sirius, Sirius/Remus, whatever.  
  
Author's Notes: Took long enough, didn't it? WIP, to be completed sometime this year. Words that are surrounded by asterisks are *stressed*. Paragraphs encased by slashes (//) are flashbacks.  
  
____________________________________________  
  
"Remus! Remus, get out of bed! Come on, it's time, it's time!"  
  
There was an exceedingly loud noise coming from somewhere to the left of Remus Lupin's bed. And whoever was making it was going to die a slow and painful death, when Remus awakened enough to exact this punishment upon the person who so rudely invaded his dreams.  
  
"Remus!" In all fairness, the voice was not exactly yelling, just whispering very loudly. But how was Remus expected to differentiate between the two in his stupor?  
  
"You've been sleeping for hours, you have to get up now, come on, wake up!"  
  
The noise was no longer coming from beside him, instead, the offender had moved on top of the bed, where he was further intruding on Remus' slumber by jumping up and down. This was not to be tolerated.  
  
"Sirius! Get off my bed this instant! You're going to ruin my sheets - look, you've got your shoes on!"  
  
Sirius Black stopped jumping long enough to gaze at his friend bemusedly.  
  
"I thought you'd never get up."  
  
"Yes, well, it's hard to sleep when you've got a sixteen-year-old boy bouncing on your bed, isn't it?"  
  
"I wouldn't know, it's never happened to me before," said Sirius, grinning wickedly.  
  
"Well, if you don't stop right now, you're going to find out what it feels like to have a fifteen-year-old boy strangle you to death."  
  
Remus' tone was somewhat less than jubilant, and Sirius thought he best comply. Flushed and breathless, he flopped down next to Remus, and stared at the canopy, trying to ignore the stare of death still emanating from his friend's eyes.  
  
"I'm sorry, Remus, but I've never turned sixteen before. It's a big day."  
  
"I know. But it's not even light out yet, Sirius, couldn't you have at least waited until after dawn to proclaim your exuberance over the all important sixteenth birthday to the world?"  
  
He sounded less vexed this time, and Sirius risked eye-contact. Remus was trying not to laugh, and doing an admirable job, considering that Sirius had started making funny faces at him.  
  
"Go away, Sirius, I was trying to sleep."  
  
"Aw, but Remus, you don't need any beauty sleep. Besides, what am I supposed to do for *three whole hours* by myself?"  
  
"You should have thought of that before you woke me up this early in the morning."  
  
"I was thinking of that, that's why I woke you up."  
  
Remus had no response to this statement. So he did the only thing he could: he pushed Sirius off the bed, drew the covers over his head, and tried to ignore his best friend.  
  
Unfortunately, Sirius' indignant yelps had woken up James Potter and Peter Pettigrew, who shared their dormitory room. And, like Sirius usually was, they were both late risers, and were not happy about being awoken in the pre-dawn hours. Remus was made aware of this fact by several pillows hurtling at his head from the vicinity of the other boys' beds.  
  
"It wasn't me! It was Sirius! I was trying to get him to go back to sleep!"  
  
"Ha! You're the one who pushed me off the bed!"  
  
"You woke me up! And then wouldn't leave! What was I supposed to do?"  
  
"There was no need to get physical -"  
  
"Physical?! You were bloody jumping on the bed -"  
  
"If you had just woken up, like I wanted you to -"  
  
"So now I'm supposed to do everything just because *you want* me to?"  
  
"Yes!"  
  
"Go to *sleep*, Sirius!"  
  
"Make me!"  
  
"Why can't you ever just be normal, for once?"  
  
"Me?! Me normal? Oh, that's rich coming from you! You've always got your nose buried in some book, studying for exams, and you have the nerve -"  
  
James and Peter looked at each other, muttered silencing charms, and promptly returned to sleep. It just wouldn't have been a normal week without Sirius and Remus having a knock-down, blow-out fight, and this looked like a promising beginning. However, it was still too early for either of them to enjoy it. ____________________________________________  
  
Breakfast passed as usual in the great hall, the minor exception being that Sirius and Remus still refused to talk to each other. Immediately they arrived at the table, they appointed James as moderator, and were now communicating through him. Peter had wisely chosen to come down late, and so was spared the task of trying to negotiate peace between the other Marauders.  
  
"James."  
  
A petite redhead approached the table, and James looked a bit too relieved, earning him glares from Sirius and Remus.  
  
"Hey Lily. What's up?"  
  
"I was wondering if you could come to the library with me, I'm having a horrible time with this homework McGonagall gave us, and since you're so good at transfiguration -"  
  
"Yes!" James said, perhaps a bit too quickly. "Oh, I, er, I mean, sure, why not? I was just finishing here anyway."  
  
Peter made a slight whimpering noise at the prospect of being left alone with Remus and Sirius. James took pity on him.  
  
"And Peter can come too, I know he was having trouble too, right Peter?"  
  
Ignoring the odd look Lily was giving him, he grabbed her and Peter's arms and hurried them away from the table before anyone could object. An uncomfortable silence ensued.  
  
"So." Remus stared at his toast.  
  
"So." Sirius stared at his orange juice.  
  
"Igottahaftagostufftodoseeyalater," Remus mumbled, suddenly jumping up from the table, leaving behind his half-finished breakfast and a confused, disappointed, and angry Sirius. ____________________________________________  
  
Sixteen should be, one supposes, just another number in the grand scheme of things. But for some unknown reason, it has always been one of the most looked-forward-to birthdays. It's a milestone, a 'congratulations for surviving childhood.' It marks a new level of maturity and responsibility, and thus should be celebrated in as raucous and irresponsible a manner as is possible. Perfect for such a legendary prankster as Sirius Black.  
  
Sirius was not enjoying his sixteenth birthday at all. And it was all Remus' fault.  
  
// He had woken up at what he would usually call an ungodly hour that morning, unable to sleep due to the adrenaline, he thought. After all, it wasn't everyday that a boy turned sixteen, and he intended to make the most of it. But what was he supposed to do until everyone else woke up? James wouldn't hesitate to beat him over the head with a broom if Sirius woke him up so early, and he wouldn't even consider spending several hours alone with Peter. . . so what was he to do?  
  
"siriusmmmnoplezsirusmm"  
  
Sirius turned his head towards the sound of his name. Dark though it was, he could see the moonlight reflected off honey coloured locks, creating a nimbus around the head the dreaming boy. Of course. He would wake up Remus, who, naturally, would be delighted at the prospect of spending a few hours alone with Sirius on his birthday. Remus was an early riser, so he probably wouldn't mind waking up just a bit earlier than usual, for such a dear friend as Sirius was. Right?  
  
Slipping out of his covers, Sirius padded silently across the room to the other boy's bed. And his breath caught in his throat.  
  
He had never before seen an angel, yet surely that was what had stolen into Remus' bed in the night. The moonlight, the very thing which Remus so abhorred during his waking hours, transforming him not into a monster, but a seraphim, making his pale skin paler, softening his features, smoothing the lines of worry that had always looked so anachronistic on such a young face. He was not by any means beautiful. He transcended beauty. Sirius could not but stare, forced into a realisation that he had long avoided.  
  
He was in love with Remus Lupin.  
  
Madly, crazily, completely in love with Remus Lupin. With his best friend. Who had helped him pull off hundreds of pranks. Who helped him with his divination homework. Whom he helped with his potions homework. A boy possessed of an almost unnatural calm, a quiet grace in his every action. A boy so certain in every word that occasionally having a conversation with Remus was like having a conversation with an encyclopedia. A werewolf. A boy tormented by the fact that for three nights out of every twenty-eight, he became a Dark creature, wanting nothing more than to hurt, destroy, kill. A boy who, thanks to his friends efforts, was no longer alone on those nights. A boy Sirius loved.  
  
There was only one thing for Sirius to do.  
  
"Remus!"  
  
And now Remus refused to speak to him. Sirius hated being sixteen. // ____________________________________________  
  
Remus Lupin was confused. Possibly more confused that Sirius, but he had no way of knowing that. He was mad at Sirius, as well, mostly because Sirius had dragged him away from his dreams that morning. . . and such pleasant dreams they were, involving Sirius and much nicer methods of waking him up. . . but he wasn't going to think about that. He was mad, and he wasn't going to let whatever feelings he had about the other boy interfere with his sulking. It was just like Sirius, to intrude not only on his dreams, but his solitude, as well.  
  
But how could he not think about the boy who had so effortlessly stolen his heart? A glance in his direction from Sirius made his stomach twist into knots. A casual touch made his knees weak. He had no power to resist Sirius' "lost puppy dog" eyes. Of course, neither did half the other people in school, but Remus felt that as Sirius' best friend, he should have been granted some immunity by the powers that be. It didn't help that Sirius knew this, and often took full advantage of the fact.  
  
Remus wasn't sure exactly when it was that he had fallen in love with Sirius Black, but he could no longer remember a time when he didn't feel the way he did. It was as though he had always loved him, from the moment they met, and for every day after. He had become a necessity, as important to Remus' survival as food and oxygen. And now Sirius refused to speak to him. 


	2. A Fortuitous Conversation

Birthday, or the Lack of a Title  
  
Chapter Two: A Fortuitous Conversation  
  
By Romula  
  
Rating: G  
  
Warning: Slash. Remus/Sirius, Sirius/Remus, whatever.  
  
Author's Notes: Words that are surrounded by asterisks are *stressed*. Paragraphs encased by slashes (//) are flashbacks.  
  
____________________________________________  
  
James looked across the table at his most recent crush. A fellow Gryffindor, Lily Evans was one of the smartest students in school. And one of the nosiest.  
  
"So what was up with Sirius and Remus this morning?"  
  
James, lost in the contemplation of the precise shade of her hair - he had decided that it was too light to be called auburn, but too dark to be strawberry blonde, although there were these strands of gold when the light caught them just so - noticed that she was speaking without actually hearing the words. He nodded mutely. That was his first mistake.  
  
"James Potter!" she hissed. "You aren't listening to me! Have you heard anything I've said?"  
  
James nodded again.  
  
"Really? Well in that case, you won't mind at all that I've taken up with Severus Snape and am going to request a transfer to Slytherin, just as soon as I tell Peter that I can't go out with him anymore."  
  
A few of James' brain cells were pulled back into the present, enough for him to hear a few key words.  
  
"Sorry, Lily, what was that you said about Snape?" he asked, his brows creasing slightly. Why was Lily talking about Snape?  
  
"Oh, honestly, James, you've been playing Quidditch far too long, your head has finally gotten lost in the clouds."  
  
James turned slightly pink and cast his eyes down to the table. Lily decided he was appropriately abashed.  
  
"I only wanted to know what was going on with Sirius and Remus this morning."  
  
"Oh, nothing really. They had a row this morning. Nothing unusual. I'm a bit surprised at Remus, though, because, well, it is Sirius' birthday and all and it wasn't that big of a deal."  
  
"What wasn't?"  
  
"Their row."  
  
"Yes, James, but what were they fighting about?"  
  
"I don't know. Sirius woke Remus up too early, I guess. I don't know why they can't just apologize and get on with it."  
  
Lily sighed. She knew she was nosy, in fact she prided herself on it, but she was never one to actually *interfere* in other people's personal business. But Sirius and Remus were good friends, her fellow Gryffindors. They fought all the time she knew, as they often did it in public (or at least the common room), but they almost never stayed mad for very long. Generally five minutes was the limit. Lily suspected that the reason for both their fighting and their quick apologies was something more than they were willing to admit - something more than friendship. There was also the fact that it was the middle of term and they didn't have another exam for nearly four weeks. Even their homework load, while difficult, was comparatively light. Lily was, in a word, bored.  
  
"James, do you think they'll still be angry with each other tonight?"  
  
"I don't know. I didn't think they'd be angry this morning. Why?"  
  
A smile played at the corners of her lips. "Well, I was thinking that it's such a shame for them to be fighting, two such good friends. I was thinking that maybe they might need a little help apologizing, since they're both so stubborn. In fact, I was thinking that it might be fun to help them see what gits they're being, moping around mooning over each other."  
  
James looked at her, his features settling into an expression of slightly horrified confusion. He couldn't speak. He blinked at her.  
  
"Oh, come on James, you're blinder than a bat, true, but surely even you can see why they're doing this!"  
  
"What?!" he managed to choke out. "What on earth are you talking about, Lily?"  
  
Lily shook her head. Boys, they were all so. . . so. . . dim. They could never see what was right under their noses. "You've been sharing a room with them for five years now, and you are honestly trying to say that you've never noticed it?"  
  
"Noticed *what*, Lily? They're friends, they fight! Hell, I fight with Sirius, too, he's a prat sometimes, does that mean -"  
  
"That's different, James," Lily said calmly. "You and Sirius are like brothers."  
  
"So are Remus and Sirius!" shouted James, jumping out of his chair.  
  
"Calm down, James, you're going to get us kicked out of the library!" James sat down with his arms crossed. Oh, terrific, now he was going to sulk. "Look, haven't you ever noticed the way they are together?"  
  
"Yeah," he said brusquely. "They're just like they are with me and Peter. They're friends, and I don't know what you're on about, but you should probably have your head examined."  
  
Lily's eyes narrowed. James paled. Oh, gods, had he just said what he think he just said?  
  
"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that. You are obviously under a lot of stress right now, and you aren't thinking clearly -"  
  
James was saved from further remonstrations by Peter, who had left them when they reached the library, earning another questioning look from Lily. The brown-haired boy flopped down in the chair next to James and placed his books on the table. "Madam Pince says if you don't shut your bloody gob she'll kick your arse out of the library for the rest of term, James. She says she recognized your voice. Of course, she didn't say it precisely like that," Peter amended at James' widening eyes. "It was more like, 'Mister Pettigrew, tell your friend Mister Potter that if he does not cease this. . .this rude. . . noisiness immediately, I shall be forced to suspend his library privileges for the remainder of the school year!"  
  
Lily tried unsuccessfully to stifle her laughter at Peter's rather accurate impression of the stern librarian; James sank down into his chair and turned a shade of red to match her hair. Peter looked back and forth between the two of them.  
  
"So what's going on, why were you yelling?"  
  
James just shook his head and covered his face with his hands. This sparked new bursts of hilarity from Lily. When she recovered enough to speak, she turned her gaze to Peter.  
  
"Peter, dear Peter, friend-o-mine -"  
  
Peter stood quickly. "Oh, oh no, I don't know what you're thinking but I want nothing to do with it -"  
  
"I just want to asked you a question!" she said, her voice slightly petulant. Peter looked at her in vague distrust; Lily wasn't known for being mischievous, but Peter suspected that it was because she was far more devious than the Marauders and had never been caught out at anything. He also suspected that whatever she wanted now, she wasn't going to let him go so easily. With a resigned sign, he took his seat again. Lily smiled.  
  
"Okay, James here appears to be blind -" Peter snorted. "- and can't see what's in front of his face. But you're more observant than he is, so tell me, have you noticed the way Sirius and Remus always are with each other?"  
  
"What, you mean their goo-goo eyes and moping about each other? Hasn't everyone? Can't be in a room with them without drowning in the sap. It's sickening," said Peter, though his voice held only affection. James looked at him aghast, Lily looked at James triumphantly.  
  
"You see? I told you so. I don't know why you can't see it yourself, it's obvious that they are -"  
  
"Don't!" James cut her off. "Don't say it Lily. They are not. . . they aren't in. . . *in love*!" he hissed, his voice dropping lower than might have been necessary in such a setting. He glared at her and she held his gaze for a time, before shrugging slightly and gathering her books.  
  
"Fine. Think what you want. Peter, I could use an escort back to Gryffindor Tower, would you walk me?"  
  
Peter risked a glance at James. His forehead was resting on the edge of the table and his hands were clasped behind his neck. "Erm. . ." James waved his hand in their direction, Peter breathed in relief. "Sure. I just have to check out this one book first."  
  
James listened to the sound of their footsteps until they faded away, not moving for several minutes. Then he sat up and sighed. He tried to concentrate on his Arithmancy homework, but his thoughts drifted back to what Lily had said - or rather, not said, at his insistence. In love. Remus and Sirius. Sirius and Remus. Two of his best friends. In love? Impossible. They were like brothers! Unbidden, his mind pulled up memories of the past five years. Sirius helping Remus with a particularly difficult Transfiguration problem, leaning a little closer to the other boy than friendship dictated; Remus telling Sirius about the craters of the moon, the two standing outside sharing a heavy cloak against the autumn chill. At dinner, their hands brushing casually and lingering a bit too long. The way they seemed to talk without talking, to know instinctively what the other was thinking to the point where it was unnerving for other people in the same room. Damn it! In love, indeed! James needed to speak to Sirius. He needed to do it immediately. 


	3. An Inauspicious Meeting

Birthday, or the Lack of a Title  
  
Chapter Three: An Inauspicious Meeting  
  
By Romula  
  
Rating: G  
  
Warning: Slash. Remus/Sirius, Sirius/Remus, whatever.  
  
Author's Notes: Words that are surrounded by asterisks are *stressed*. Paragraphs encased by slashes (//) are flashbacks.  
  
____________________________________________  
  
Sirius climbed the stairs to Gryffindor tower. His feet felt heavy, like his shoes had been filled with lead, and he was developing a nasty headache. Great, he was getting a cold. On his sixteenth birthday. It just figured. Next, he'd probably pass out, fall down the stairs and break his neck. He probably wouldn't even die, he'd just be in a lot of pain and unable to move for months, and Remus wouldn't even visit him in the infirmary - and Sirius wouldn't be able to go out on the full moon - this day was just getting worse and worse!  
  
"Sirius. Sirius!"  
  
And now someone was yelling at him. Like Remus hadn't done enough of that already. Whoever it was -  
  
"Sirius, I said wait a minute!"  
  
Sirius turned around, hands clenched into fists ready to kill - or at least seriously maim - the offender - and met an unexpected and very startled pair of hazel eyes.  
  
"Look," began Remus, "I don't know what's going on, but we really need to talk."  
  
Sirius stood mutely. He was used to always having something to say; being speechless was an alien sensation and he disliked the fact that Remus seemed to easily inspire it in him. Perhaps it was that - the feeling of resentment and frustration - that prompted him to do what he did next. "There's absolutely nothing to talk about," Sirius said in clipped tones. Then he turned and walked down the stairs again, remarkably calm considering that he was heading to the Astronomy Tower with the intent to jump off of it.  
  
Remus didn't follow.  
  
____________________________________________  
  
James stalked through the halls of Hogwarts, wishing he had the Marauder's Map with him (it was hidden securely in the bottom of his trunk with the Invisibility Cloak). For all he was good at sneaking around without being seen by others, his tracking skills were sadly lacking. Remus was good at tracking. James supposed it had something to do with being a werewolf, but whenever he mentioned it, Remus simply smiled enigmatically and deftly changed the subject - which struck James as odd, because usually Remus didn't mind talking about lycanthropy.  
  
Remus! O-oh! Lily was so wrong about Remus and Sirius. She had to be. It didn't bear thinking that she could be right, that would just . . . ruin everything. The Marauders were like brothers, family. Sirius and Remus couldn't possibly be in love, that would be like James falling in love with Peter, and that was just . . . it was . . . it was gross. And wrong. And impossible.  
  
So why was he still worried?  
  
____________________________________________  
  
"I don't know why he can't see it, I mean I know he's always kind of oblivious to anything that doesn't have to do with Quidditch - I don't know how on earth he gets such good grades, since he never pays attention in class and I've never seen him studying - but even if he didn't notice I can't see why his reaction was so violent -"  
  
"He pays attention to you."  
  
It took Lily four whole seconds to stop dead in her tracks; Peter was counting. James and Lily were really so sweet together, and Peter was endlessly amused that they seemed to be oblivious to the fact.  
  
"Yes, well, erm . . . are you trying to change the subject?" Lily could feel her cheeks getting warm and tried to divert attention away from herself.  
  
"No. You're the one who said he didn't pay attention to anything except Quidditch, but he does. He pays a lot of attention to you." Peter grinned. "In fact, I think he pays more attention to you than he does to Quidditch, because just last week Jonathan was complaining that James kept spacing out during practice mmhpnnp --" Peter was going to mention the unfortunate essay that James had been forced to hand in to Professor Binns a fortnight ago, the one that had been covered in little hearts and the words "Lily Potter," but he was prevented from doing so by the hand clamped over his mouth.  
  
Lily held a finger to her lips. "Do you hear that? It sounds like, like . . ."  
  
"Like someone very angry?" Peter supplied.  
  
"Yeah, only, those aren't all words I'm familiar with."  
  
"Er, Wizarding slang. Can't be a teacher, it's too rude." He listened. "Really, really quite indecent. That sort of stuff would make sailors blush."  
  
Lily looked at him. "Right then. Shall we go see who it is?"  
  
"Just what I was thinking." Peter replied, grinning at her. "It's coming from below, I think." They ran to the end of the hallway and started down a spiral staircase. Which was really rather unfortunate, because the person they were going to find happened to be coming up the stairs rather quickly, and like all good stories this one ends in blood and tears.  
  
Peter reached the staircase first, with Lily barely a foot behind, and they were taking the stairs two at a time. It was a steep and narrow staircase, and there was no handrail, which everyone agreed afterward was rather neglectful of the staff. The person coming up the staircase was indeed very angry, and didn't hear the footsteps coming down the stairs. Lily and Peter were making too much noise to hear the person coming up. Any physicist will tell you (in more complex terms) that an object going down will gain speed as it travels, and both Lily and Peter were going down rather quickly by the time they reached the middle of the staircase, so when the person coming up the stairs suddenly appeared in front of Peter, poor Peter was able to neither stop nor move in time to prevent the collision. The two might have recovered and tragedy averted had not Lily been so close to Peter. Peter and the unsuspecting student were grasping at each other's robes, teetering on the edge of a step, and when Lily ran into them, the duo became a trio of yelling, yelping appendages wrapped up in standard issue black school robes. Luckily there were only thirty more steps or so between the collision point and the bottom of the stairwell. With all the stairs to be found in Hogwarts Castle, it could have been much worse.  
  
There were two minutes of complete silence. Then someone tried to move.  
  
"Someone move their bloody wand before I bloody beat their head in!" Lily could be scary sometimes. Everyone tried to untangle their limbs and robes simultaneously, which lead to even more entanglement and several seconds of confusion that would have been really funny a) had anyone been around to watch it and b) were the parties involved not in such great pain.  
  
Someone groaned. "I'm going to have bruises for a month. No, two months! I won't be able to play in the match against Slytherin! What the hell were you thinking!"  
  
Peter and Lily looked at the boy, then at each other, then back at the boy. Then they started yelling at the same time. "What are you -" "I thought -" "Supposed to be -" "Then we were -" "And James -" "But then -" "And Gryffindor is that way -" "He looked ill -" "Nothing there -" "Have to talk to -"  
  
"Sirius, what are you doing here!" They yelled together.  
  
Sirius glared at them. "You are interrupting my death! Or maybe you're trying to murder me! Remus send you after me? Figures. Going to throw me off the Astronomy Tower, were you? But you botched it and decided to throw me down the stairs, eh? What next, the lake? Going to shove me in the kitchen ovens? Now my last words are going to be something daft like aah- oww!" Sirius halted his lamentation to reflect on the accuracy of Peter's aim, even when throwing a book, and books were oddly shaped. He could fly well enough. With some practice he could make a decent Chaser, and O'Donnell would be graduating, leaving his spot wide open -  
  
"What in Merlin's name are you talking about, Sirius?" Lily demanded. "Stop talking rubbish! You're not - we're not - stop talking like you're going to die or I swear to . . . to . . . to something really big and important that I will . . . I'll . . ." Here she became calm and very quiet. "I will inflict such injuries on you that you will wish you were dead. I will steal instruments of torture from the Slytherins if I have to, or Filch. There will be wire and sharp things and very hot iron pokers involved. There are illustrations in some of the library books of what the Muggles did to witches and wizards during the Dark Ages. We'll call it a practical history lesson. Binns will be pleased with your initiative. And you will be very sorry."  
  
Yes. Yes, Lily could be rather scary at times. Peter somehow managed to sidle away from her while still sitting down. Sirius was sitting very still, barely breathing. His brain was working on the T-Rex Principle, which is basically the frantic hope that if you don't move, it won't see you.  
  
This sort of thinking has lead to the demise of many males at the hands of the females of the species. Fortunately for Sirius, Lily had no real desire to hurt him. In fact, she was in quite a lot of pain herself. A visit to the infirmary was definitely in order, and she said as much. Then she marched them through the halls of Hogwarts, walking five paces behind them like a prison guard. So they didn't have a chance to run when they rounded a corner and walked right into James Potter. 


End file.
